Pioneers: Creation

A Beautiful Friendship

A Beautiful Friendship


         Kenshi was half asleep by the time Alanya made her way out of the bathroom in a clean set of clothes.  Looking at her for a full minute, he finally realized she was waiting for his judgement on her new outfit.  Somehow he managed to quirk a lip up.


         “Looks good, darlin’.”  Then of course he remembered she was wearing a plain brown shirt and black pants, both of which were too big for her.  Still, she look relieved.  ‘Hell she looks better than me,’ he thought, glancing at the shredded Boragarian coat he had lying over the armrest of the sofa.  ‘Gonna have to find another one of those.’


         “You could look better yourself,” she teased, sitting herself beside him with a wide smile.  Apparently the shower and change had done her wonders.  She hadn’t looked this good since the dance.


         “I’m a man.  I don’t give a damn, remember?”  She punched his arm.  “What?  It’s true.”


         “Well you should.  You look ugly.”


         “Your point?”  She scowled at him, though she still had a humored gleam in her eye.


         “Well what if I went around looking as ugly as you?  What would you say then?” she asked.


         “I would say nothing, merely silently laugh at your ugliness.”


         “Ugh!”  The princess threw her fist at his arm again while he chuckled lowly.  And so that’s how they were when Quinn entered the room; Alanya throwing punches at him while muttering this and that about “stupid men” as he laughed and took the hits.


         “You two are friends?”  Kenshi turned to see the blonde with one thin eyebrow arched dramatically, her look a nice mix of questioning and surprise.  He shrugged a little and the princess punched him again.  “So...wait...you didn’t kidnap her?”


         “Nope,” Alanya said with a cheeky smile.


         “She’s a stowaway,” he finished for her.  Quinn looked between the two, a strange expression on her face.


         “Nothing is ever cut and simple with you, is it?” she asked, staring at Kenshi.  He felt his lips twitch in something of a grimace.


         “That’s why they called me Hell.”


         “What?” both women said at once.


         “Well, among other reasons.”  Between the looks they gave him he sighed and explained.  “Everything’s supposedly always complicated with me, so they nicknamed me Hell.  Among other reasons.”


         “What other reasons?” Alanya asked.  Now he did grimace.


         “Ruthlessness and aggression.”


         For a moment neither girl said anything.  Then Quinn said, “Well that’s a splash of cold water.  Good to see you’re as normal as usual.  Just to make this stranger, how did you two meet?”


         “He’s my bodyguard,” Alanya replied.  The engineer only blinked in response.  “How did you meet Kenshi?”


         “He actually did kidnap me,” Quinn said, frowning.


         Alanya glanced at him wide-eyed and he said, “It’s true.”


         “We were on the Titan and he and another criminal were about to be killed so he took me hostage and escaped with me.”


         “Was it Ruki?” Alanya asked and again Quinn raised an eyebrow.


         “Yes.  You know of them?”


         “Well yeah.  She was in the Marble Keep too,” Alanya replied.  “She’s funny, you should get to know her.”  Kenshi couldn’t help but laugh at the bewildered look on the blonde’s face.


         “Ok I’m afraid to ask more so I’ll get to the point.”  Immediately the Terran sobered up.  “There are three transmitters aboard the ship.  That should take first priority, but judging by how fast we are moving the MMC will be able to track us even if they are gone.  I do not have the capabilities to fix much of this ship without months of studying, but I think I can repair the auto repair system.”


         “Wouldn’t that just turn it against the ship again?” he asked.


         “I can probably reprogram it, though I don’t know how long it will take me to go through the code and find the exact problem.  You’re lucky modern engineers have to learn complex programming.”


         “Can you estimate a time?”


         Quinn shook her head and said, “Too may variables.  Honestly, it could be two days or a month depending on how complicated the programming is and how fast the system works.”


         “And the stealth system?”


         “The function is still there, but there is no way to activate it.  All hardware between us and the system itself has been destroyed.  I might be able to give it a jolt, but without proper knowledge it’s more likely to destroy the system more than fix it.”


         “Do you still need to be within the atmosphere to do repairs?”


         “For the most part, no.  Potentially not at all, but your hyperdrive is failing.  It will not hold out throughout repairs so you better have a good plan to keep the MMC at bay.”


         Kenshi looked at Alanya whose confusion was tangible.  He gave a lopsided grin.  “It’s alright.  We have the emperor’s daughter hostage.”


-------------------------


         Quick or slow?  That was the monumental question.  Should she simply end Kenshi and be done with him or should she drag out his suffering until he bored her.  Ruki’s mind swirled with arguments to either decision.


         ‘He’s been so much fun for so long.  Why not do him this one favor and kill him quickly?’


         ‘Because I have tortured for much less.  He deserves it.’


         ‘Yet he might overcome you should you drag it out.’


         ‘Not a chance.  Besides, he might prove a lot more entertaining in torture.’


         For hours this went on, making her angrier by the moment and all the more willing to tear the Terran apart slowly.  She hated him with a passion yet that damn voice in her head just would not stop arguing with her.  So she argued back until at last the voice pulled out the mother of all trump cards, freezing her thoughts and any further argument.


         ‘He is your friend.’


         For a long moment Ruki toyed with this thought, pushing, prodding and finally playing it across her mind until, scowling, she punched the steel wall of her new cockpit.  Fingers cracked and in a second of mercy the pain overtook thoughts of Kenshi Tamaki.


         ‘I’ll decide how to do it when I get there,’ she finally thought.  Then she grinned a little.  “Look at me, trying to plan something out ahead of time.  I’m so proud of myself.”


         Settling back into her chair, the faint grin still present on her face, Ruki looked at the stars.  In some odd way they were spectacular and relaxing at the same time.  Within moments she even forgot her tail was gone, never to return.  Everything was on the stars before her, looking almost like fireworks before her eyes.


-------------------------


         ‘Why is he moving so slow?’  Terrace found himself asking this question over and over as the minutes rolled by.  It was a solid idea to throw pursuers off, but this was pushing it.  The way Tamaki was moving there was only one conceivable planet for him to hit within the next three days and he still had seven hours to reach that one.


         Terla VII was a forest planet, for the most part.  Multiple small cities with numerous mines for iron, oil and copper.  Most of his ragtag fleet had already been sent ahead to prepare for their arrival - taking the opportunity to finally be a step ahead of the opposition.


         ‘But then, he’s outsmarted us so far.’


         It was easy to figure out why Giznek had chosen Terrace for the mission, but the young commander was starting to realize he’d failed sharing that small bit of personal experience he’d had with Tamaki with his temporary subordinates.


         ‘A long year of training and one bad mission,’ he remembered, a thousand memories flashing through his head at once.


         Tamaki had always been a tough sonofa bitch.  Nobody questioned that back when he came through the teams.  Somehow the man had pulled strings to skip through the conditioning and “waste disposal” sections of SEALS training to get right into the meat of the program.  Of course there’d been dissenters, people who thought he wouldn’t be tough enough after all they’d been through and he hadn’t, but that lasted all of three days where he proved he knew more than any of the trainees and perhaps even the instructors as well.  He shot straighter, ran faster, knew every single tactic the instructors threw at them and a few they didn’t.  Everyone put it on him being a veteran.  They’d all known he was the best they had on their team.


         ‘But we never would have guessed this.’  Tamaki was making them all look like trainees again.  Question was: how do you outmaneuver a man who had tactics burned into his head?  ‘So far I’ve been throwing soldiers at him, trying to outnumber and overpower him like he’s another damn pirate.  It’s not enough.  That’s not why I was chosen.  But what can my experience with him give?’


         For hours on end he thought it over, churning it through his head, but in the end there was nothing.  Kenshi Tamaki was the better soldier and any move Terrace made would be read like a book and countered or avoided.  Overpowering Tamaki was the only option but for the hostage by his side.


         ‘Taking out Tamaki has to be surgical.  Perfect discipline and a pinpoint strike which will cripple him long enough to trap him, separate him from the girl and kill him.  It is the only way.’


-------------------------


         First there was nothing.  And then there was light.  Had he been not so groggy Preesly might’ve thought up some religious joke, but as it was all his mind or his lips could form was, “Ugh.”


         “Easy, easy.  You suffered a concussion,” a man with a high voice said clear and slow.  A second later his blurry form was in Preesly’s vision, a thin pasty guy who barely blocked the bright light above him.  “You were in an accident.”  The Terran scowled and pushed the man away, sitting up.


         “Some asshole kicking my head in isn’t an accident, dickweed.”


         “You are angry when awakened,” a deep voice rumbled against his skull and the former SEALS put a hand to his head.  “The Sventh learn to control their emotions at all times.”


         “Sorry I’m not a robot.”  Preesly’s eyes turned toward the large form sitting straight-backed on a stretcher.  Whoever had taken care of them managed to remove much of the lizard’s armor, replacing it with bandages.


         “Please.  You both must lay down.  Your injuries took much of your strength.”  Preesly focused again on Pasty.  Some sort of doctor or nurse, now that he could see the man’s uniform.  And the room some sort of clinic.


         “What exactly happened?” Preesly asked.  Pasty shrugged.


         “Some guy went on a rampage throughout the place and shot up most of the MMC stationed here.  You guys got caught up in it, I guess.”


         “A blonde girl get sent in?”  Pasty gave him a blank look.


         “Blonde...girl...?”


         “Tamaki came specifically for her,” Nell said.


         “Yeah.  Any ideas why?”


         “Perhaps to keep her from talking, though the lack of her appearance here makes that unlikely.”  Preesly grimaced and rubbed his head while the doctor or nurse or whatever the hell Pasty was looked confused at the two men.


         “I got the frequency from Hower.  Should be able to track him now,” the Terran said, swinging his feet over the side of the stretcher and standing.  Nell followed suit.


         “Hey!  You two can’t leave!  Your bodies are badly injured!”


         “Where are my belongings, boy?” Nell hissed.  Pasty went a shade paler and any further complaint died in his throat.  He pointed to a closet near the door.  Sneering, both men geared up and set out.


-------------------------


         “He’s out like a light.”  Quinn turned toward the entrance of the spacious holo room when she heard the princess enter.


         “Are you sure he’s alive?” she asked.  The brunette frowned at that, but didn’t look overly worried.


         “Of course.  I can’t remember the last time he got a normal day’s sleep,” Alanya said.  Quinn frowned back and turned to continue her work.  “What’re you doing?”


         “Just preparing some minor comforts while I try to figure things out.”


         “Minor...” Alanya was interrupted as Quinn entered the program into the room’s control panel and a luxurious double bedroom appeared from nowhere.  “What the...?”


         “Quicksilver has very impressive technology.  This will do us much better than that couch upstairs.”


         “Wow.”  Quinn smiled at the girl’s wide-eyed stare as she moved around and touched everything as if it would disappear again.  “Cool.”  Like the engineer could disagree.  Even as she said it the girl was switching a lamp which, by most rights, didn’t exist on and off.  Midolloni had technology like this, but it was limited, mostly by law, to keep some semblance of old stability.


         “Now if you excuse me I have a transmitter to figure out.”  Quinn went for the elevator, but when she turned around the princess was a step behind her.  The door closed behind Alanya and the engineer was left in an awkward silence.  ‘What do you talk to a princess about?’


         “So what do you need to figure out?” Alanya said for her.  The blonde shrugged.


         “How to replace three centimeters of disintegrated copper wiring.”


         “Any way I can help?”  Quinn glanced at her.  The princess was still wide-eyed.  Probably felt like an extra wheel in comparison to her and Kenshi.  Not that she could blame the girl.  The doors opened and the pair stepped out.


         “I can manage,” Quinn said, walking toward the plasma-ridden transmitter.  It looked as bad as it was.  Five shots had melted through the outer panel and made the insides a jumbled mess of metal and plastic.  The only bout of luck was that the transmitter and all it’s programming had been relatively undamaged, the only real problem coming from the three centimeters of wiring connecting the device to the ship’s power.  A bit of reworking and rewiring, plus a temporary bypass pad attachment until a real control panel could be substituted, and Quicksilver would be a long step closer to full functionality.  Of course, there were other transmitters which needed to be destroyed first...


         “So why’d you come anyway?”


         Glancing to her side she saw Alanya was still following her.  Sighing, Quinn took out the Quicksilver datapad and headed for the nearest “bad” transmitter.


         “I was in a dead-end job and Kenshi offered me a closer look at this ship.”


         “That’s it?”  Quinn doubted she could blame anyone for the bewilderment she heard.


         “I have a deep love for technology and spacecraft.  My only surprise is that Kenshi can read people well enough to know that much about me.”


         “He is a surprise.”  She could hear the smile on Alanya’s face.


         “How is it that you and he are friends, anyway?” Quinn asked, entering the cockpit.


         Alanya bit her lip and said, “I dunno.  He’s fun to be around.”  Raising her eyebrow, the blonde made it clear she didn’t believe a word of that.  “It’s true!  Once you get past the quiet mean part he can be pretty fun.”  Quinn kept up the disbelieving look.  “And he saved my life,” she finally said, quietly.  Quinn’s eyebrow raised even higher.


         “How long has he been your bodyguard anyway?” the blonde asked, carefully pulling off the navigator’s panel and going to work.


         “Only a week.”


         “A week.  What did he save your life from, a flock of MMC ruthlessly chasing him?”


         “No...”  At the blonde’s questioning glance she elaborated.  “I kinda walked into a bad part of town and Kenshi brought me out.”  Quinn frowned, reached into her tool bag for a screwdriver then jammed it square into the hidden transmitter, bending it and tugging out the wiring inside.


         “That’s one down,” she muttered then looked at the princess.  “You watch yourself around him.  Kenshi Tamaki is a criminal and obviously an accomplished liar.  Maybe he’s a good guy, but I’d place money that if it were us or him he’d choose himself without a second thought.”


         The girl frowned and said, “I don’t think that’s how it is at all.”


         “No?” Quinn asked, wanting elaboration.


         “No,” was all Alanya gave.


-------------------------


         They were standing in a locked off corridor within the far reaches of Alasia, a cultural and trading landmine of a space station.  The lights were all shut down in this section, partially due to it’s relatively abandoned state, partially due to the fact that Ruki had shut them down once she’d realized Kenshi had tracked her again.


         Like some lights would really stop Kenshi.


         Still, it was fun giving him a hard time.  She enjoyed pushing him to his limits, really see him try.  Even so, he’d caught up to her quick.  God only knew how he’d found her this time and she certainly hadn’t expected him to move so fast once he’d pinned her location, but here he was - good ol’ AC pistol pointed at her head a good two meters away and she empty-handed while the light of the stars poured in from the long plated window along the hull.  Her smile was wide, but it didn’t affect his scowl.


         “What now, Kenshi?  Gonna shoot?”  A lot of people would be moving forward thinking she was defenseless unarmed, hoping to cuff her or push her to the ground or taunt her or whatever.  Not Kenshi, though.  He knew to keep distance.


         ‘Wonder if I’d really hurt the poor sonofa bitch if he tried to be a little more...gentle.’  Her grin widened when she thought, ‘If he tried he wouldn’t be Kenshi.’


         “On the floor,” he said and she complied for the time being.  “Arms around your back.  No sudden moves.”  Again, slowly, she did as she was told.


         Only when finished did the Terran step toward her.  Placing the barrel of the gun beside her head, he leaned down.  She felt his hand on her wrist, but when she didn’t feel cold steel follow it she grew confused.  More so when his fingers trailed up her arm, to her shoulder then back down her back, tracing gently along her shoulder blade and eventually her spine.


         She looked up at him confused and found the pistol was gone as well as the scowl.  In it’s place was a lust so hard to detect she didn’t see it until she’d been staring a few long seconds.


         “Kenshi?” she whispered.  The large man’s only response was to turn her over, his hand still running along her back, as he moved her into a half sitting position.  Confusion was plain, but the pirate accepted tenderly when he leaned to her lips.


         There it got blurry.  Images of hands, his and hers, everywhere all over one other.  Clothes disappeared, there lips at each others then on one another’s hands, arms, neck, chest, stomach...  Then a few erotic minutes of her back pressed up against that glass window and him slowly thrusting into her.


         Her eyes opened.


         Scanning the cockpit of her new and somewhat substandard ship, it took a moment to register what was going on.


         “Mother fucker,” she muttered, pulling her hand from her crotch.  ‘I remember Alasia ending a lot more violently.’  Most notably, once she felt steel she’d pulled him down.  There’d been a short struggle before three shots went off and the pair had raced to opposite ends of the corridor trying to escape before the glass shattered.  She remembered it well because it was hard sprinting with plasma burning part of your heart away.


         Wiping her hand unconsciously, Ruki forced down the lingering horniness and focused instead on the red-head’s skull on a spike.  That made her smile a little.  Still, she couldn’t help but be pissed at her obviously misinformed subconscious.


         ‘Note to self: Kenshi almost killed you.  You’re supposed to kill him back, not fuck him.  Dumbass.  There better not be any more problems or I will find a way to deal with you.’


         That thought, the blue-haired pirate settled back down to try for another nap.  It didn’t take long for her to succeed, as was normal, and a few minutes after falling back into la la land her hand found it’s way back to her black-clad crotch.


         Some part of her mind screamed, “DUMBASS!”  Like she really cared.


-------------------------


         When the alarm went off the first thought to come to Kenshi’s mind was that he wanted to destroy the universe and everyone in it for making him wake up.  He toyed with that thought while sitting up then groaned and lay back when the stabbing pain throughout his side alerted him that, yes, he was still beaten the shit out of.


         ‘Lack of sleep plus normally fatal injury plus slice to neck equals exhaustion and FUBAR healing system, even if it’s made by Ally.  Got it.’  Again he sat up and forced himself to succeed, standing moments later and nearly falling back down in the process.


         “You look better,” Alanya chirped in what seemed to be everywhere at once.


         “I feel better too,” he said sarcastically, stretching and wincing at the pain it caused.  He opened his eyes for the first time and saw the princess eating a sandwich on the other end of the couch.  “Quinn still workin’?”


         “She got the three transmitters and has been working in the repair thingy for over an hour.”  He nodded.


         “Good.”  Walking off balance, the large man headed for his bedroom.


         “So where’re we headed anyway?”


         “Mining town,” he called back.  “Closest decent-sized city I could find away from White Sun.”  He turned back to her.  “You and Quinn’ll be staying aboard.  No exceptions.”  Turning away, he grabbed a duffel bag and opened a drawer.


         “What if you get caught or the ship gets boarded?”


         “I won’t get caught and they won’t be able to open the outer hatch.”  He grimaced.  ‘I think.”


         “How long will you be?”  The grimace got worse.


         “No idea.  Could be minutes, could be days.  Depends.”


         “On?”


         Sighing, Kenshi threw the last of his necessities into the bag, zipped it up and walked to the princess.  Girl was wide-eyed with worry.


         “I’ll be back.  Until that time you make sure Quinn doesn’t take off without me or something.”  She bit her lip and he smiled a bit, placing his hand on her head and mussing her hair.  “Don’t worry ‘bout me.  I’m the ultimate badass after all,” he said in some futile attempt to calm the girl.  The worry was still definitely there, but she rolled her eyes humorously at least.  Kenshi walked past her into the corridor and finally the cockpit.


         Terla VII didn’t look all that much different from Earth.  A little smaller, though not noticeably, and much greener, but otherwise the two could well be mistaken to an untrained eye.  There was also the issue of the dozens of military ships surrounding the planet, but he’d lucked out for the time being.  Nobody was in range to make a move.  He’d been smart, directing hyperdrive to just beside the atmosphere and allowing the gravity to slingshot him to what should have been the far side.


         Kenshi sat down in the pilot’s chair and began preparations for landing.  The radio didn’t work, but he knew some control tower would be going nuts trying to stop him from setting down.  It’d be the fleet stopping them from opening fire and trying to blast Quicksilver to bits.


         It took a good half hour to break through the atmosphere and home in on the nearest spaceport without a useable radar, but he managed and as expected the turrets, though deployed, stayed their fire.  Also expected were the numerous transport and combat trucks, army gunships and grunts spread throughout the port.


         ‘Who said I have to land in the port?’ he thought, scoffing at them.  He looked around as he passed above the spaceport.  The city was small, but not too small.  Easy for a guy to get lost in the crowd.  Streets were tight, but a couple big ones could fit his ship without much danger.  Overall, it was a pretty city.  Bright and cheery, the exact place people wouldn’t expect someone like him to be found.  If only he wasn’t being tracked, this could’ve made for a decent hideout. 


         He headed for the nearest large intersection, the gunships trying and failing to keep up.  They’d be late.  Setting down lightly, much to the blaring annoyance of many a passing car and pedestrian, Kenshi took note of his position.  Daytime, maybe late morning.  Business center near the middle of the city.  They’d lose him in seconds.


         He shut down the ship and stood up, making his way to the corridor again.  Turning, he saw Quinn oblivious at work, tinkering with a bypass pad hooked into the burned-out transmitter.


         “Quinn,” he called out.  The engineer looked up from her work, face blank.  “Stay on the ship.  I may be gone awhile.  If you take off without me I won’t ignore it again.”  She looked more angry than afraid at that one.


         “So you run and get caught and if I still go my way you kill me.  You don’t make this job any easier, Kenshi.”


         “Spare me.  I’m not getting caught and the Titan data’s still aboard.”  The blonde gave him a weird look, her accented voice going up a notch or two.


         “You actually have it?!  Why in the hell don’t you just turn it in?”


         Rolling his eyes, he said, “It’s a long story I’d be happy to pan out for you later.  For now just make this thing beautiful again, aye?”  She scowled.


         “Fine.  But you better have a good excuse.”  He frowned and turned away, rechecking his coat - a simple brown jacket he’d stowed deep in a drawer - for everything he needed.  Unfortunately the Boragarian coat was too shredded and bloody by now not to draw attention and would be too large for this job, as nice as that extra room could be.


         Satisfied, he pressed the panel for the weapon locker and smiled at the formidable armament he saw within.  Today he was looking for something basic, however, and after a few moments picked out what looked to be a small double-barreled shotgun.  A Barcel Cannon.  Good for one shot before reloading, but what a shot it was.


         Stuffing it into his duffel bag, Kenshi opened the hatch and limped out of his ship.  A crowd was gathered, murmuring somewhat angrily, but the Terran made it a point to ignore them as the hatch closed behind him.


         ‘Please let the locks and any security devices Ally probably installed still work,’ he prayed.  Overhead the gunships were becoming audible as they closed in on him.  He’d guessed right.  They were too late.


         Stepping into the crowd, nobody stopped him and within moments he was lost to the universe.


-------------------------


         “They lost him.”


         Simple and expected.  Still, there was the whole aggravating part which allowed Terrace to go all red and demand, “What?”  Rykov practically squirmed under the commander’s glare.


         “Tamaki landed on a crowded street on Jerdal City, Terla VII, exited his ship and was immediately lost.”  Terrace placed his fingers to his temples, rubbing them gently.


         “What excuse did the army make?”


         “They ‘did not anticipate his recklessness.’” Rykov’s color returned a bit now that he knew the blame wouldn’t be placed on him.  The commander scowled.


         “And the girl?”


         “It was just Tamaki.  That they were very clear on.”


         ‘Interesting.  Either he doesn’t have the girl or he thought she was dead weight, left her aboard.  God help me if it’s the former.  Where the hell else could should be?’ Terrace thought.  “Tell me they have his ship and the airport blocked off.”


         “Yes sir.  No unauthorized personnel are allowed within 25 meters of the ship or within the spaceport and no unauthorized ships are allowed to leave the city.”


         “Make it no ships, allow none to enter atmo that aren’t ours and make it the planet.  They’re sure about the girl not leaving?”


         “Sir, I...”


         “They’re sure?” the Terran interrupted.  His aide paused a moment before replying.


         “Yes, they’re sure.  They request permission to breach, sir.”


         Terrace leaned back in his chair, thought on it a moment before saying, “Send Wicks down to check the ship and help guard it.  Full team.  If Tamaki’s ship takes off I want it shot down, but it must not be destroyed under any circumstances.  The idiot who destroys it will find himself working alone in an observatory by the border.  Any other ship takes off, destroy it.  No exceptions.”  The look on Rykov’s face spoke plainly of his regard for all this.


         “Sir...”  Again the commander interrupted.


         “Do not question me on this.  If that man finds a single crack he will slip through it, understand?”


         The aide held a stiff close-fisted salute to his heart and said, “Yes sir,” before walking away.  Terrace scowled the entire time.


         ‘He’s not the only one who’ll think this is too much, but it has got to be done.  Once everything is secure we can dig through the city and find Tamaki.  Though that’ll go even worse...’


         Disregarding personal property was allowed in extreme situations, though heavily looked down upon.  There would be a lot of complaints from civilians and MMC alike, but Terrace had to make sure it was done and done right.  The army would already have roads blocked off and satellites tracking anyone trying to leave the city.  That just left uprooting every rock to find the man and hope he didn’t slip by when no one was looking.  Fat chance that’d be, no matter how hard he tried keeping things tight.


         ‘What is he planning?  What possible reason would he have for landing on a place clearly expecting him and why would he leave that ship behind?  He has to know there’s no way we’ll let him off the planet so what is he doing?’  The intercom pulled him out of thought.


         “Sir, there’s a foreign ship coming in fast.”


         Terrace hit the button and asked, “Leaving?”


         “No sir.  Entering.  They refuse to acknowledge any hailing requests.  What are your orders?”  He frowned.


         “Send a team of marines down after them.  If it’s nothing turn them in to the police.”


         “Yes sir.”  The intercom went out and Terrace was left with a widening frown.


         ‘Foreign ship, right after Tamaki lands, ignoring a fleet parked around a planet.  Who the hell...’  His eyes widened and he clicked the intercom back on.


         “Retract that order!  Send a full SEALS team down, now!  Heavy gear, expect Ruki.”


-------------------------


         “In a breaking news story Terla VII, most notably Jerdal City, has been blockaded by the MMC this morning after a strange ship landed in the middle of the city, frightening many residents.  The commander who ordered this blockade, Commander Burlai, failed to comment on the reason he has gone to such extreme measures, though we do know he was last known chasing the newly appointed number one most wanted person in galaxy, Kenshi Tamaki.  Many local residents have been frightened into their homes by the recent activity, others complaining loudly at what they call a major violation of rights, though the MMC all have been heard calling this a ‘necessity,’ going so far as to say it is ‘a temporary situation posing no danger to the people and that everyone may go about their daily lives without worry.’”


         Quinn clicked the HV off frowning and Alanya could only guess what she was so upset about.  The blonde had decided to take a short lunch break and in the meantime tried to find some local news in hopes of understanding what Kenshi was planning.  Neither woman was any closer to figuring the man out.


         “Why are you so upset about it?” Alanya asked.  “He’ll find a way.”  Quinn gave her a pointed look at that.


         “I will be the first to admit Kenshi has proven very successful at slipping away from a bad situation, but there is no bloody way they’ll allow him to waltz out of this one.  It’s simply not possible.”


         The princess frowned and asked, “Then why are you here?”  Quinn thought on her answer a moment, taking a bite of her lunch, before responding.


         “Aside from not knowing how incredibly bad the situation was and currently having no feasible way out of it, I love this ship.”  Alanya felt her eyes widen in wonder.


         “You are really obsessed with technology.”  For the first time since they’d met the blonde smiled.


         “Yeah...” she said dreamily.  The brunette giggled.


         “I thought all girls were supposed to wanna be princesses.  You get locked up with me and all you wanna be is a mechanic.”


         “Engineer,” Quinn corrected, but the amusement was plain on her face.  “Anyway I’d always figured being a princess would be boring.  I’m not much of a politician, I’m afraid.”


         “I know what you mean,” Alanya replied, wrinkling her face.  “Always trying to look good, sound good, be perfect.  It’s really annoying.  My brother and sister eat it up, though.”  Now it was Quinn’s turn to giggle.


         “I thought all girls were supposed to want to be princesses.  I get locked up with one and all you want to be is something else.”  Alanya smiled at that.  “What is it you want to be anyway?”


         “No idea whatsoever.”


         Quinn nodded, ate the last of her sandwich and said, “Well you should have some time to figure that out, being away from all that royalty now.  But I need to get back to work.  Maybe, just maybe if the MMC don’t break down the door and come storming in here at any moment I can get this ship back online and we can get away.”  She stood up.


         “With Kenshi, right?”  The engineer froze like a block of ice.  “We’re not leaving without him.”


         “You really care for him don’t you.”  Alanya nodded and the blonde walked for the door.  Before stepping through it she glanced over her shoulder and said, “Don’t worry.  He’ll kill me if I do.  And if not him I have the sneaking suspicion Ruki would.”  That said she disappeared into the corridor, leaving Alanya to ponder.


-------------------------


         Laughter and screams filled the air.  And blood.  Can’t forget the blood.  Lotsa that too.  In her hand was the shirt of some dumb SEALS, his wide eyes slowly glazing over as they stared into her own red ones.  Her other hand was filled with warmth, something pleasant and comfortable.  Not to soldier boy, though.  To him it probably felt more like a beam of burning plasma sticking in his ribcage.


         Ruki pushed the man away, letting go of the sword, which promptly dispersed into nothing, and looked toward the others.  Only three remained where once there stood 16.  It was odd to think these men were of the same organization Kenshi once fought with.  Kenshi, who had nearly killed and/or captured her a dozen times.


         Weaklings.


         Corpses stretched from her to the slender red ship Ally had given her.  That and one breathing guy, but considering most everything below his waist was gone he wouldn’t be doing that much longer.


         “God...” one of the men whimpered as Ruki giggled, her mask pulling back into place around her face.  She barely even noticed, the suit affected her senses so little.  A simple mental command and she felt her fingers elongate, sharpen.


         The three men opened fire, but by then she was gone, flying underground while a HUD appeared, relaying her position.  It only took her a second to flank the men, rise out of the ground and stab her hand through the nearest man’s armor, into his torso and out the other side.


         Spasming and gurgling, the man’s finger twitched hard enough to fire his rifle and nearly score the man beside him.  Both SEALS whirled and fired.  Nearly hit her too, the jerks.  She repaid the first by slashing her fingers across his face, blood trailing in five wicked slices that instantly put the man in shock.  If he didn’t bleed to death it’d take a Godly plastic surgeon to fix him.  The other she was kinder to.  She grabbed the man’s weapon.


         “God dammit, where’s our backup?!  This is Zulu, I need support right now for fucks sake!” he screamed, trying and failing to pry loose.  Ruki cackled as she pushed him back and pulled the gun away.  “God, no,” he muttered, crawling back as she followed.  Her mask pulled back again, revealing her wide grin.  “The hell are you?”


         “Ruki.  Nice to meet ya.”  She shoved the barrel of the gun down the man’s mouth, felt his teeth snap, heard him squeal.  Then she pulled the trigger and he shut the hell up.  The noise was instantly replaced by the distinctive sound a pair of gunships and Ruki smiled toothily, throwing the gun away as they appeared over the tree line.


         “You don’t have to worry!  They don’t need backup anymore!” she yelled over the noisy thrusters.  “It’s ok, though!  I’m not sated yet!”  She brought her arm back, felt the comfortable warmth grow in her palm then threw it forward like a fastball.


         The red orb moved like a rocket, crashing into the side of the nearest gunship and exploding hard enough to sent it careening into a tree.  Severely off balance and crippled, the small gunship - a sleek and heavily armored piece with an assortment of visible rockets and machine guns - hit the ground hard.  The second ship opened fire with it’s gatlings immediately.


         Jumping into the air, the pirate soared high while the pilot nearly crashed trying to keep her in his sights.  Laughing, she dove down, landing on the glass canopy and smiling inside.  The pilot could only stare disbelievingly back at her.


         The knives of her fingers made short work of the plated glass and that disbelieving look never went away, even when her hand had sunk into his forehead.  Smiling a moment, Ruki pulled her hand out and jumped away, the second gunship joining it’s friend in a brutal crash against a nearby set of trees and, soon after, the ground.


         Landing on the tips of her toes, Ruki gave a short bow to her newly deceased audience then made her way back to the ship.  Beside the steps a long blue dress sat folded.  She threw it over her head, wrapped a quick waistband around the middle and turned to town, running her fingers through her hair.


         ‘Gotta look my best.  Wouldn’t want anyone getting the wrong idea about me after all,’ she thought, giggling.  She began walking forward, minding her toes for any pools of blood.  A SEALS groaned as she passed, though a sharp kick to the temple stopped that easily enough.  Continuing on her way without a second glance, the dread pirate wondered how long it’d take to root out Kenshi.


-------------------------


         Arch didn’t know what the big grey monstrosity of a ship was, only that he was supposed to get inside it and it looked badass as all hell.  Surrounded by army grunts still setting up basic defenses, the thing reminded him of something seen out of a movie he’d watched last summer.  Something about another race from the unknown depths of the universe landing on New Terrioc City and the government trying to figure out what was what.  It was Wicks who brought him back to reality.


         “Keverall, Lossman, Breggs.  Get this thing open.  The rest of you fan out.  Defensive positions.  If you see Tamaki report in then start firing.”


         A chorus of “Hooyah”s went up and everyone went their separate ways, the small, lean Nindathu, Lossman and the much larger Terran, Breggs coming to stand before him.


         “Lossman, try getting her open.  Breggs, you got point.”


         “Hooyah, L.T.,” Lossman said.  Breggs simply checked his rifle and the two were off.  Arch took one last look at the city surrounding them, pedestrians watching curiously as they passed by, cars avoiding the barricades as best they could and everyone generally going about their merry way, before joining the two SEALS.  They couldn’t let Tamaki loose like the space station again.  Too many people to get in the way.


         “Hey L.T., what’s up with this job anyway?” Breggs asked as Lossman took a look at the entrance panel.  “I don’t much feel like opening the door and staring at a flamethrower, ya know?”


         “Didn’t you read intel?” Lossman answered for him.  “Tamaki split.  Top thinks he left Miss High and Mighty inside.”


         “Reliable intel?” Breggs replied.


         “Forget it, Breggs,” Arch said.  “A lot of people saw Tamaki and Tamaki alone come out.  Thing’s been watched...”


         “AH, FUCK!” Lossman cried out, flinching back dramatically.


         “What happened?”


         “Damn thing shocked me, L.T.  Musta set up some kinda booby trap.”  Arch and Breggs both rolled their eyes.


         “Be more careful.  You should know better,” Arch said.


         “I swear, I was.  Didn’t see anything.  Barely touched the damn thing and...”


         “Just get on with it, man,” Breggs said.  “Wanna get this deal over with.”  Lossman glared at the larger man, but did as instructed, only now putting on a pair of rubber gloves first.  Taking his knife he pried the panel open and barely a second passed before he flinched back again.”


         “GOD DAMN MOTHER...” he trailed off, gritting his teeth.  “It shocked me again!”


         “Obviously not.  You’re wearing gloves,” Breggs said.


         “I know what the hell it did.  You wanna try?”


         “That’s enough,” Arch said, cutting between the two.  “Lossman, get the bypass pad in there.  See what’s what.”  The smaller man glared, but did as he was told, carefully and with much hesitation.  Even so, no sooner than he’d connected the pad to the panel than it blew up in the man’s hands, sending him falling back with a pair of smoking rubber gloves.


         “Didn’t know you’d forgotten how to connect those things.  Don’t worry, you’ll get it right one of these days,” Breggs laughed at the cringing Nindathu.


         “Fuck you, man.  You do it.  My nuts are still tingling and I got a girl back home who wants to see lil’ Lossy juniors running around.”


         “Enough.  Both of you.”  Arch frowned.  SEALS operatives and army grunts alike were grinning amused at the trio and the lieutenant didn’t much like it.


         “I’ll try.  Lossman, get your hands checked out.  Breggs, cover the hatch.”


         “Hooyah,” the pair said as the Midollonian stepped up.  The bypass pad was a burned crisp, $12,800 of worthlessness.  Lifting the panel up carefully, he checked Lossman’s work.  The man was right.  Nothing stuck out and the connection was fine.  The panel must’ve been glitched out somehow, sucking power directly.  Still, he’d worn rubber gloves...


         Taking the bypass pad gently, Arch looked it over a moment before tugging it out the panel.  A single short shock greeted this motion and he flinched a bit, frowning.  The pad shouldn’t conduct electricity like that.


         “Breggs, get some demo and tell the army boys we need a makeshift barricade.  We’re gonna blow this thing open.”


-------------------------


         “They army has just begun their sweeps, Commander.  It could be hours before we find him,” Rykov said.


         ‘More like days,’ Terrace thought.  “And the ship?”


         “Wicks’ team is still on it,” Card said.  “They say it’s trapped.  The door shocks anyone trying to unlock it so they ordered demolitions.”  Terrace closed his eyes and nodded.


         “Little success, I suppose.”


         “Yes sir.  Typical breach charges barely scratch the surface.  Wicks is trying to rig a larger bomb, but he doesn’t want to injure anyone inside and he doesn’t know the ship’s tolerance level.  He’s going to rig them up in a series and keep trying until one works.  Says it might take awhile.”


         “And are defenses around the ship completed?”


         “I...I do not know, sir,” Card said, going red.


         “Those charges won’t mean anything if Tamaki can waltz up and get right back aboard.  I want them prepared as if Kerosia itself was coming for them.”


         “Yes sir.”


         “Rykov, I need the army to move faster.  They’re not rooting out Tamaki if they’re doing it half-assed.  Also relay this to Baragossa: I want a carrier or destroyer in position to strike Tamaki’s ship at any given second.”


         “He already has, Commander,” Card said.  “Since we arrived.”  Terraced frowned for a moment then nodded.


         “Good.”  Both men turned and headed for the door.  “Gentlemen, you are not dismissed.”  The pair froze in their tracks and Terrace already didn’t like it.  “What happened with the ship coming in earlier?”  The two were pale when they looked at him and Terrace knew exactly what had happened.


         “The team was ambushed.  Jamerson, his team plus two anti-ground gunships were destroyed,” Rykov said after being glared upon for a good ten seconds


         “Ruki.”


         “We think so.”


         “It wasn’t a question.”  Now it was Rykov’s turn to go red.  “Let everyone know Ruki’s planetside.  Keep in mind, Tamaki’s the prime target.  We’re looking for him.”  He paused, thinking a moment.  “Have her ship destroyed.  Orbital strike.  I want nothing but scrap left of it.  And gentlemen...”  He let his frown deepen.  “Do not ever think to keep bad news from me again.  Dismissed.”


         Rykov and Card walked out together, saying nothing more, leaving the commander to his thoughts.  Where would Ruki come into this picture?


         ‘God help us if they get into a fight down there.’  Between the MMC, Ruki and Tamaki, Jerdal City wouldn’t be much of a city if a free-for-all came about.


-------------------------


         Good ol’ Kenshi was certainly making a stir of things.  People were afraid.  Stubborn enough to go on with their day-to-day lives but she could practically smell it on them.  The MMC wasn’t helping matters much.  She could see them as she entered the city, going from building to building, trying to flush out Kenshi.


         They had to know it wouldn’t be that easy.  Hell, even she didn’t have any sort of real plan.  Walking around a city without a disguise when you’re a universally renowned murderer is easier than you’d think when nobody’s expressly looking for you, but Ruki knew if Kenshi caught so much as a glimpse of her a confrontation would be quick enough.


         Problem was Jerdal City, while nothing anywhere near huge, was a city nonetheless and there was a good chance Kenshi had walked out of it and could be anywhere on Terla VII by now.  Whatever the case, he wasn’t going anywhere with any sort of ease.


         Kenshi’s ship was easy to find.  A major intersection surrounded by MMC with enough weaponry to give Kerosia a hard time.  Or her, for that matter.  He wouldn’t be leaving anytime soon, that was for certain.  Whatever he thought he was doing, it was getting done here.


         ‘Ally said his ship was for all intents and purposes totaled.  Maybe he’s looking to hitch a new ride.  MMC’s not gonna have much of that, though.  Not until they find him.  He had to have known that.’


         Frowning, Ruki walked away from the ship.  None of it fit.  The extent of damage Ally’d said he’d taken wouldn’t let him fly far, but he had to have something up his sleeve, some reason to land and get off the ship, but what was there?  Miscalculation?


         ‘Maybe he thinks if he hides away long enough they’ll leave him be.  That’s a long shot though.  So many people around and his face has got to be everywhere.  He wouldn’t last a day without being spotted.’  Still, he seemed to have made it just fine so far...


         People were staring as she walked by.  Fortunately it wasn’t the ‘good God, Ruki is within two systems of me’ look so much as a ‘blue hair? that’s uncommon’ or ‘damn, she’s hot’ look.  Grinning, she put a bit more sway to her hips then nearly lost it when she felt the noticeable lack of her tail swaying with her.


         It was going to be sweet, killing that sonofa bitch.


         Looking around, she found herself in some sort of restraunt-centered part of town.  Some fancy, others much more basic, most with a few stories attached to them - probably apartments.  The day was sunny and clear, but had a slight chill to it.  Just enough to warrant her heavier clothing.  Most people wore something similar - long pants and shirts, heavy dresses, a couple coats here and there.  A couple crazy idiots took it a bit far, though.  The guy in the parka was sweating bullets, as was the fur coat woman coming out of lunch from some overpriced restraunt.  There was the hobo in some alley with so many clothes it was hard to tell if he was fat or stuffed and the Jarcden sitting in the café had to be frying in his black trench.


         She did a double take.


         Ruki near laughed out loud at the picture.  Certainly she couldn’t keep the disbelieving smile from her lips.  Kenshi the Jarcden was nursing a glass of water in one hand, the other caught up in a sling, and glaring at her like she’d killed his mother.  Walking up to his cozy little café, she jumped the metal railing and sat across from him.


         “Kenshi, I do believe you’ve made me speechless.”


         “That’s a switch.”  She couldn’t help it.  Grey-skinned, black-haired yet the same ol’ rasp.  Ruki leaned her head back and laughed.  “Figured you’d come with a better disguise.  Are you insane?”  Regaining control of herself, she leaned forward and grinned.


         “The eye sees what it wants to see and I doubt anyone here wants to see me.”  He shrugged and she laughed again.  “You know, it’s odd looking at you.  It’s hard to pinpoint at first, but you make a disproportional Jarcden.  The hell is with your arm?”


         “Broke it on your back.”


         “Cheap plastic.”


         “And steel.”  She raised an eyebrow at that.  “Besides, it frees up my real arm.”  A light tap sounded under the table and Ruki knew she had a shotgun leveled on her.


         “Asshole.  I came in peace.”


         “No you didn’t.”


         “Oh right.  I didn’t.”  The grin disappeared from her face and the pirate reached across the table at lightning speed, grabbing his shirt.  “You almost killed me.  My tail is gone.”


         “You almost killed me.  My life is gone.”  Scowling, she pulled him closer only to hear the distinctive click of his gun cocking.


         “What the hell do you want?  Only reason you’d be sitting here like this is ‘cause you’ve been waiting for me, so what is it?  Trying to finish me before they send you to Quantron for the rest of your existence?”


         “The thought had come to mind.”  Scowling even more she pushed him back into his seat.


         “Then what is it?”


         At that moment the strangest thing happened.  Something Ruki would never in her life have guessed and never in her life refused to take advantage of from a rival.


         Kenshi closed his eyes.


         Not just for a split second.  No, this was a full second of him with his eyes closed.  And there she was, a bare couple feet away watching the entire thing.  She was so floored she nearly fell to the floor.


         “I want you to join up with me.”


         She slipped off her chair at that one.  Now she was floored.  Part of her wanted to laugh in his face.  Part of her wanted to scream obscenities until she was hoarse.  Both cancelled out leaving her with the ever intelligent, “Huh?”


         “You’ve asked me before.  Now I’m accepting.  My ship’s scrap with a couple weeks left on repair, MMC’s not going to take long finding me and I have data to keep hidden until Malcom’s outta the picture.  That leaves holding off the MMC until my ship isn’t scrap.  Maybe I could hold out a couple days.  Three max with all the equipment I’ve got, and that’s with luck.  But that’s not gonna cut it.  I need help.  And you’re my only option.”


         Her mouth was hanging and she couldn’t stop it.  It felt like an hour she was staring at him like that before her brain kicked in and she screamed, “ARE YOU FUCKING CRAZY?!?!  You betrayed me!  Why on the devil’s thorny cock would I help you?!”


         “You bought into Kerosia didn’t you.”  His face was blank, had been since the start, but she could still sense the disappointment all over him.


         “No, you did,” she said, ignoring the emotion in favor of her own.


         “Why?  ‘cause the emperor said so?”


         “That man wouldn’t tell a lie if the apocalypse was breathing down his neck.”


         “People around him might.”  She narrowed her eyes.


         “What do you mean?” she asked.


         Kenshi grimaced a bit, looking around and said, “I’ll tell you all about it later, if you accept.”


         “Now,” she demanded.  Now he was the one scowling.


         “I had a history with them way back.  Some Kerosian advisor Terrans were using at the end of the war.  Alright?”  Frowning, she looked at him for a long moment.


         “You’ll tell me the full story.”


         “Later.”


         Looking away, she thought on it a moment.  Could be he was telling the truth.  Old Berin was easy to fool and the Terrans certainly would be getting desperate at the end of the war.  Maybe it would even explain some of Kenshi’s...abilities.  But the sonic blaster and her tail...


         ‘He was only defending himself.’


         ‘He almost killed me.’


         ‘Should he let you kill him?’


         ‘If it keeps me alive, yes.’


         ‘That’s not why you like him.’


         ‘I hate him.’


         ‘Then why is it you want to accept his offer, just like you always have?’


         There was no more response, try as she might to form one.  Looking at Kenshi, she found him staring right back, two green eyes staring coldly into her red ones.  She cocked her head.


         “Deal.”


-------------------------


         For hours Kenshi wondered if this would really work.  The waitress was certainly growing suspicious of him sitting there quietly, only drinking water, but she wouldn’t be doing anything about it.  So he was left with his thoughts, wondering if after Dardel she would even speak to him, much less accept.  Or, hell, if she would even show, and, if she did, when.


         Then he spotted her.  Blue dress with that strange black suit doubling as actual clothing underneath.  Wasn’t disguised in the least, yet nobody was even giving her a second glance.  Well, a second glance that didn’t have lust written all over it.  He frowned a bit, seeing a smear of red on one of her cheeks.  Tough guessing what that was from.


         Her eyes roamed the streets, scanning boredly.  She looked past him once and he was faintly surprised she didn’t jump at him right there.  For a second he thought the pirate had actually missed him until she glanced back in surprise, a grin breaking out across her face.


         Stepping toward him, she hopped the fence, sat down and simply stared at him for a second before finally saying, “Kenshi, I do believe you’ve made me speechless.”


         “That’s a switch,” he replied and watched her nearly tip her chair back in her laughter.  He hadn’t expected her to be this jovial.  Then again, this was Ruki.  “Figured you’d come with a better disguise,” he said after a moment.  “Are you insane?”  The mass murderer leaned forward, smiling.


         “The eye sees what it wants to see and I doubt anyone here wants to see me.”  Shrugging, he watched her set out on another fit of giggles.  “You know, it’s odd looking at you.  It’s hard to pinpoint at first, but you make a disproportional Jarcden.  The hell is with your arm?”


         “Broke it on your back.”


         “Cheap plastic,” she said.


         “And steel.”  One dark blue eyebrow arched at that.  “Besides, it frees up my real arm.”  He tapped the Barcel Cannon against the table and her eye glittered a threat he knew all too well.


         “Asshole.  I came in peace.”  That could’ve made him double back in laughter, it was so ludicrous.


         “No you didn’t.”


         “Oh right.  I didn’t.”  Just like that any semblance of a smile disappeared from her face and suddenly she was holding him up by the front of his shirt.  Warning klaxons went off in his head, but he kept his cool.  “You almost killed me.  My tail is gone.”


         ‘Ah crap.’  Actually scarring someone he’d seen regenerate from grenades wasn’t a good start to this.  ‘Come to think of it, how could I have scarred her anyway?’  He mentally shook his head.


         “You almost killed me.  My life is gone.”  A wicked scowl he’d never seen spread across her features and she pulled him closer.  Beyond any doubt he knew right then she was going to try killing him and this thumb instinctively cocked his shotgun.  That seemed to snap her out of it a bit.


         “What the hell do you want?  Only reason you’d be sitting here like this is ‘cause you’ve been waiting for me, so what is it?  Trying to finish me before they send you to Quantron for the rest of your existence?”


         “The thought had come to mind.”  A few times.  Her scowl near looked like a grimace as she pushed him back to his chair.


         “Then what is it?”


         The magic question.  The moment of truth.  Despite all the danger, all the terrible pain he knew it could bring him, Kenshi closed his eyes in some attempt to gather the courage to let out his next few words.  Opening them, he said it blunt as he could.


         “I want you to join up with me.”


         The merc almost fell out of her chair at that, she was so surprised.  Gathering herself together, all her lips could form was, “Huh?”  And so he explained.


         “You’ve asked me before.  Now I’m accepting.  My ship’s scrap with a couple weeks left on repair, MMC’s not going to take long finding me and I have data to keep hidden until Malcom’s outta the picture.  That leaves holding off the MMC until my ship isn’t scrap.  Maybe I could hold out a couple days.  Three max with all the equipment I’ve got, and that’s with luck.  But that’s not gonna cut it.  I need help.  And you’re my only option.”


         Never would he have guessed seeing the look of pure shock on Ruki’s face as he did then.  It was right up there with him kissing her in the Marble Keep.  Jaw dropped, eyes wide and glazed, she was the epitome of surprise.  ‘course that didn’t last long.


         “ARE YOU FUCKING CRAZY?!?!  You betrayed me!  Why on the devil’s thorny cock would I help you?!”


         ‘Oh boy.  That can only mean...’  “You bought into Kerosia didn’t you.”  After Orlius, after Burlai and the revelation she had not, in fact, framed him, Ruki was the last person he’d expect to fall for HV propaganda.  Yet there it was.


         “No, you did,” she said accusingly.  It was a chore holding back his anger.


         “Why?  ‘cause the emperor said so?”


         “That man wouldn’t tell a lie if the apocalypse was breathing down his neck.”


         “People around him might,” he pointed out and that dangerous look started coming back to her face.


         “What do you mean?”


         Grimacing, he looked around.  People were staring, pedestrians and customers alike.  Cover wouldn’t last long like this.


         “I’ll tell you all about it later, if you accept,” he said.


         “Now,” she shot back and he scowled.  Better to relent a little then drag it out any longer, however.


         “I had a history with them way back.  Some Kerosian advisor Terrans were using at the end of the war.  Alright?”  She frowned, staring at him thoughtfully.


         “You’ll tell me the full story.”


         “Later.”


         She looked away at that, eyes glazing in ever deepening thought and he knew this was the moment.  Either she’d agree or he was screwed.  Maybe he could find a suitable hiding place for the data within the city.  Hope their blind search didn’t root it out before Malcom went back to prison.  If he went back.  Then she looked back at him and said the one word he could barely believe.


         “Deal.”  The word was numbing.  It had been a longshot, but it had also been the best idea he’d had and so far it was actually panning out.  So, in that numb shock, Kenshi nodded and dipped a napkin into his water, handing it over to a bewildered Ruki.


         “Wipe the blood off your cheek.  It annoys me.”  She grinned and took the napkin, the danger finally wiped clean from her face, and wiped both cheeks before looking down at the red stain on it.  Her smile grew as she looked back up at him and teasingly licked at it.  The former soldier rolled his eyes.  “Let’s get outta here,” he said standing up and concealing his arm and gun back into the overlong jacket.


         “We could take my ship, you know,” she said, standing up with him.  “Avoid the whole ‘hold off the fleet of MMC for a couple wee...’”  A line of red light fell from the sky and moments later an explosion filled the air.  Ruki looked at it calmly before grinning back up at him.


         “Then again I was never one to run from a fight,” she said.  He raised an eyebrow, but said nothing more.


-------------------------


         “Think this one’ll do it, Commander?” Arch asked as Breggs and Lossman put the finishing touches on the demo charges.  Wicks looked down at his subordinate and nodded stiffly.


         “Better.  Burlai’s getting antsy up on his throne.  The sooner this is done with the sooner we can all relax a little.”


         “All finished up, L.T.,” Lossman said, approaching the pair.  His hands were red, but the man insisted he was fine.  Arch figured he just wanted revenge on the ship.


         “You and Breggs spread word.  Get everyone behind cover,” Wicks ordered then looked back at Arch.  “Feel like doing the honors, Keverall?”


         “Love to,” the young lieutenant said, stepping up to the charges.  “Setting timer two minutes!” he called over his shoulder before doing just that.  Turning around he saw an odd sight.  A pair of civilians had set themselves away from the pack and were approaching the perimeter - a shapely woman and a towering dark-skinned man.  Bad time for someone to get brave with them.


         “Hey, get them away from here!” he yelled at a pair of grunts beginning to take cover nearby.  Then he got a closer look at the girl.


         Blue hair, pale, predatory.  Ruki.  And that meant...


         “TAMAKI!!!” he yelled out the same time the disguised Terran pulled a stubby shotgun out of his jacket and blew the legs out from a pair of nearby grunts.  Everyone ducked for cover at the shot while Arch drew his pistol.


         Then she was there, standing before him with a wicked grin and a hand of knives aiming to cut out his heart.


         “Ruki!” somebody rasped out and the pirate frowned.  The officer tried bringing up his pistol in that moment of distraction, but a black blur crossed his vision then all he saw was darkness.


-------------------------


         They were trying to blow the hatch open, it was easy to tell.  Aside from the many soldiers taking cover on the wrong side of the shields set up around Quicksilver, the charges were oversized and obvious.  That and the big black marks from obvious previous attempts.  She’d held up better than he’d thought.  Not so much as a dent to be seen.


         “Don’t kill anyone.  We’re just trying to escape,” Kenshi reminded her.  Ruki looked up at him, pouting.


         “You take all the fun out of this,” she whined.  He couldn’t tell if she was joking.


         The charges were almost set.  People were walking away, finding a last minute spot before they blew.  Perfect timing.  Nobody was watching them approach.


         “Hey, get them away from here!”  Well almost nobody.


         “Showtime, Kenshi,” Ruki purred, smiling.  He said nothing in reply.  Only watched the dozens of men looking their way at the order.  Most specifically the one who’d issued it.  SEALS badge.


         ‘Shit.’  The man looked between him and Ruki a second before recognition flashed across his face and he yelled at the top of his lungs, “TAMAKI!!!”  The result was a confused and jumbled mess of MMC not knowing what the hell was going on.  That precious second of bewilderment was all Kenshi needed to pull out the Barcel Cannon and, with a single pull of the trigger, send everything into chaos.


         Screams filled the air as a pair of grunts went down, holding their lack of legs.  They’d be healed.  More important was everyone looking around, wondering what was what.  He saw Ruki dash ahead in the excitement, watched her fingers elongate, her hand pull back, ready to skewer the SEALS who’d pointed them out.


         “Ruki!” he yelled, knocking the butt of his weapon against a grunt aiming point blank at him.  That seemed enough to keep her in check for the time being, though the brutal backhand she delivered instead could’ve well snapped the man’s neck.


         Gunfire began opening up around them and Kenshi ducked behind the nearest energy shield.  They’d rushed this too much.  No plan of attack, caught in the open with civies surrounding them.  FUBAR.


         ‘Note to self: don’t blindly follow Ruki into a pack of fortified enemies.’


         Taking one look at the overwhelming plasma, another at Ruki being pummeled as she detached the demolitions and another at the stationary gun sitting above his head, the only thought to cross his mind was, ‘Fuck it.’


         Grabbing the gun in his only usable hand, Kenshi managed the best he could keeping under cover while pointing the weapon over the shield.  The recoil was heavy, his position bad, but he managed to spray the area with a heavy dose of plasma.  It seemed to do the trick.


         Around him MMC had ducked for cover while Ruki, leaning against the hatch, finally pulled the charges free and chucked them away.  Standing, Kenshi held the stationary machine gun in his off hand, doing his best to keep it steady with his extended left while he continued laying out suppressing fire around the ship and running awkwardly on his stilts.  The defenses were thick with soldiers, but most were basic recruits.  Young and stupid, positioned in a little old town which should’ve never seen action, most were staying under cover - even when his weapon didn’t have an angle on them.  His blind rush did it’s job, for the most part, though he grunted as a shot impacted directly into his right shoulder, making him nearly drop the gun.


         “Took your sweet time,” Ruki said behind her mask.  Kenshi punched in the passcode and the hatch opened.


         “Yeah, yeah,” he said, throwing the weapon away and stumbling in behind the pirate, plasma skimming over his head as he ducked down in some semblance of cover.  The hatch closed behind him and the pair let out a long sigh, falling to the walls in pain.


         “What’s say we do that better next time, alright?” she said breathing heavily, her mask pulling back.  Kenshi grabbed the hair of his grey mask and, wincing at the fresh plasma wound, pulled.


         “Agreed,” he said, dropping the mask, wriggling his left arm free and throwing the overlong coat, arm extension and all, to the floor.  Suddenly she burst out laughing as he leaned down to pull off the short stilts.


         “Were you firing a heavy machine gun with one arm or was that just the huge amounts of plasma making me crazy?”  A normal day Kenshi probably wouldn’t have cracked so much as a smile.  On that day, however, exhausted, wounded and surrounded by dozens of enemy soldiers he was trying his damndest not to kill while they didn’t return the favor, he let out a short, low chuckle.


         “Well it worked.”  Ruki laughed all the more and together they made their way down the corridor to the living room.


         “Kenshi,” she said, opening the door, “I believe this is the start of a beautiful friendship.”  Then she caught sight of the two women sitting within.  All three froze in shock for a good tense moment, staring across the room at one another.


         ‘Oh boy.’


         “What is she doing here?” the trio said together.